If you are looking for reliable, long-lasting gopher removal, Go-Pher The Kill provides a structured 30-day control program tailored to your property. Our step-by-step process ensures we don’t just clear visible surface mounds—we eliminate active subterranean infestations directly at the source.
To ensure our technicians can locate active tunnel systems and perform treatments efficiently, please complete the following steps prior to your scheduled service:
Mow Your Lawn: Keep grass trimmed so our team can easily spot fresh dirt mounds and active soil activity.
Clear the Yard: Remove pet waste, yard clutter, children’s toys, and lawn furniture from the treatment area.
Turn Off Automated Sprinklers: Avoid watering your lawn or running irrigation on the day of service, as wet soil can collapse subterranean tunnel openings.
Our licensed gopher exterminator will conduct a comprehensive site inspection to map out active burrow routes:
Active Tunnel Identification: We locate fresh mounds and trace underground lateral tunnels.
Subsurface Treatment Application: We apply specialized, professional-grade gopher control products deep inside the active tunnel network according to strict safety standards.
Mound Knock-Down: We level existing surface dirt mounds so any new gopher activity can be immediately spotted during follow-up inspections.
It takes time to fully clear an underground pocket gopher network. Here is what you should monitor following your initial treatment:
Activity Monitoring: You may see temporary mound activity as surviving pests attempt to clear blocked run lines.
Avoid Leveling New Mounds: Do not knock down fresh mounds that appear after our visit; leaving them intact helps our technicians identify remaining activity during follow-up visits.
Report Fresh Activity: If fresh mounds appear, contact our Riverside office at (951) 226-0335 so we can update your service schedule.
Our standard residential gopher control service includes 30 full days of active coverage to guarantee complete removal:
Routine Follow-Up Inspections: Most residential properties receive 2 to 3 follow-up visits during the 30-day window to treat remaining pests and retreat newly formed burrows.
Continuous Monitoring: We inspect treated zones, re-apply treatments where needed, and monitor perimeter boundaries.
Commercial & Large Property Protection: Properties adjacent to open fields, golf courses, or vacant lots face continuous pest pressure. We offer ongoing maintenance programs to keep large properties protected year-round.
We offer three primary methods for underground gopher eradication depending on your property’s specific conditions:
Our Recommended Method
No Poisons Or Chemicals Used
Know The Gophers Are Gone
Safe For The Environment
Quick Control
No Digging Needed
Bait Can Stay Active For Up To 60 Days
Fewer Service Calls Required
Safe For Pets
No Digging Needed
Gas Vaporizes Quickly
Leaves No Bait Or Poison Behind
We believe that subterranean trapping is the single most effective method of long-term gopher control. Our technicians are expertly trained in precise trap placement and hold a proven track record of successful removal across Southern California properties.
Our Step-by-Step Trapping Process:
Property Survey & Planning: We begin with a thorough site inspection to map out active underground tunnel networks and develop a systematic removal strategy.
Minimal-Impact Installation: We carefully open small entry points and set underground traps, taking extreme care to prevent any unnecessary turf or landscape damage beyond what the pests have already caused.
Timed Catch Window: Traps are left active for 12 to 48 hours before our team returns to inspect the run lines and safely extract captured gophers.
Landscape Restoration: Following trap removal, we replace any original sod, fill all dug holes, and remove or level existing dirt mounds. Mounds located on grassy turf are completely removed so the buried grass can regrow.
Optional Hybrid Protection: After successful trapping, we prefer to apply a localized underground bait as an added layer of defense. However, if you prefer a strictly chemical-free, bait-free approach, we will gladly adapt the service to your preferences.
For maximum efficiency, Go-Pher The Kill utilizes a variety of specialized subterranean baits throughout different stages of your control program. Offering gophers multiple bait types significantly increases the probability of ingestion and rapid elimination.
Key Features of Our Baiting Program:
Subterranean Injection: Bait is applied directly into active underground run lines using specialized probes. In ideal environmental conditions, applied bait remains active underground for up to 60 days.
100% Pet & Family Safe: Because gophers live entirely underground, we never apply bait on the surface where children, pets, or non-target wildlife could access it. Pests remain inside their burrows, eliminating surface exposure risks.
The Ultimate “One-Two Punch”: While bait can eliminate individual gophers quickly on its own, we strongly recommend using it as a follow-up safeguard alongside our trapping program for comprehensive results.
Property Cleanup: As with all our services, we finish every visit by leveling dirt mounds and clearing debris from turf areas.
When property conditions call for immediate, widespread results, Go-Pher The Kill offers pressurized subterranean tunnel fumigation.
How Fumigation Works:
Pressurized Delivery: Using specialized machinery, we pump a combination of heated smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) derived from natural smoke oil deep into active tunnel networks, rapidly neutralizing subterranean pests.
The True “Pet-Safe” Solution: Because this process utilizes no traps, chemical baits, or toxic poisons, fumigation is considered the most authentic, residue-free, pet-safe pest control method available.
Targeted Application: While fumigation is not ideal for every soil condition, it is remarkably effective for complex or heavy infestations. Ask your technician during your inspection if fumigation is right for your yard.
We have a few variables that we factor in when pricing gopher control work.
This is a tricky one because there are not many things you can do to keep them from burrowing back into your yard. Gophers are likely to appear in the same spot as before, even after removing them. This is because you now have existing tunnels leading from your neighboring yard right to these spots. When we do your gopher control service, we’ll hand you a few referral cards to offer your neighbors. That way, we can make sure their gophers don’t eventually tunnel over to your property.
We also offer maintenance services for gophers in which we come out monthly to inspect the yard for any new activity. If we see any new gopher activity, we will take care of it. This service is more of a reactive service but is proven to keep the gophers under control and down to a bare minimum.
Gophers live underground and feed mainly on the roots of plants. They move from root to root by tunneling through the dirt. Eventually, though, the dirt builds up in the tunnels, so the gophers start digging upward to the surface to get rid of the dirt.
A gopher’s tunnel system can be very extensive. It consists of the main tunnel, which is usually 6 to 8 inches below ground, and numerous cross tunnels that lead to the surface – where they make the mound. The gophers also dig separate chambers to store their food and raise their young. The main tunnel can be as long as 200 yards, and the chambers as deep as 6 feet!
The gopher’s powerful front legs and long pick-like claws create the perfect tunneling tool. But, they will sometimes hit a pipe, utility cable, or other large objects that they can’t dig around, so they use their large teeth (incisors) instead. The pocket gopher’s incisors never stop growing, so they have to use them regularly to keep them controlled.
Probably not. Gophers are very territorial and usually live alone in a tunnel system – except during breeding season and when a new litter is born. There can be up to 10 baby gophers in a litter, and a female can have up to 3 litters a year in irrigated areas. Young gophers will stay with their mothers for about two months, then leave to start their own tunnel system. They can start their own families when they are a year old and live for about three years.
Gophers spend most of their lives underground, so you are more likely to see their mounds than to see the gophers themselves. But, you may see them poking their heads above ground when clearing their tunnels of dirt. Gophers are usually about 6 to 9 inches long with tawny brown fur and short tails, but their large teeth are the most obvious way to identify them. Gophers have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell – so if you see an animal of this description running backward very fast – it is likely a gopher!
By gnawing and eating of plant roots, the gophers not only weaken the foliage, but they can also kill trees, shrubs, and other plants. They also dig at, and chew on utility and irrigation lines that get in their way, destroying these. Additionally, the holes they burrow to the surface, and the ground that is weakened by their tunneling can cause falls and injury to people and animals. And, if you have a dog, those holes will likely be dug even further as it tries to get at that underground pest!
Gophers are some of the most destructive pests that live in Riverside and San Bernardino. Because of their digging skills, gophers can easily access most yards, even those with fences to keep wildlife out.
Gophers spend most of their lives underground, using tunnels for shelter, breeding, and food storage. The main tunnels used by gophers are usually just 6 to 12 inches below ground with multiple cross tunnels leading to the surface. However, some tunnels may descend to 6 feet below the ground.
Gophers live in tunnel networks beneath the ground, where they’re able to eat, sleep, breed, and raise their young without worrying about predators. These gopher tunnels often spread through our yards, and the first sign of the gophers’ presence tends to be mounds of dirt they push out of the soil.
Gophers are plant-eating rodents that create crescent-shaped dirt mounds with plugged entry holes and destroy lawn roots. Moles are insectivores that create round, volcano-shaped mounds and feed on earthworms and grubs, rarely eating plant roots.
Yes. Whether we use underground trapping, subterranean baiting, or carbon monoxide tunnel fumigation, all treatments take place deep below the surface inside the active tunnel system, keeping pets and family members safe on top of the lawn.
You will often see a dramatic drop in active mound building within 24 to 48 hours. Because a single gopher can create extensive burrow networks, full elimination across your property typically occurs within 1 to 3 weeks through our structured 30-day program.
